Practise makes perfect
by xAppleDownx
Summary: Takes place after the first movie and how Troyella gets togther. Gabriella can finally indentify with her character Mimi, since they're both falling for the wrong guy.. Or what? Oneshot! T-rated. Troyella. Change Mimi into Minnie and Irene into Lucille.


**So this is my very first HSM fic, but the idea just popped into my head and I felt obliged to write it down, if you understand what I mean. But I think the result came out pretty good. So, please read and enjoy,..**

**And this thing is partly dedicated to Ann, who's sick at the moment. Hope this will fill some of those empty hours that always occur when you're sick. **

**And please review!**

* * *

Why she was so nervous that particular morning, she couldn't quite explain, she just was. She pushed the blanket aside and felt the cool air in against her skin. Quickly she ran to the bathroom, grapping a clean towel on the way, and jumped into the shower. The hot water was a blessing on a cold winter morning in February.

"Gabi, are you done soon?" her mother called from outside the door. Again. Actually she did that every morning, because for some reason Gabriella always took a second longer in the bathroom than her mother liked her to. For a few days she tried getting up fifteen minutes earlier, but as did her mom, so on the long run it really made no sense at all. So she stopped getting up earlier than needed.

"In a sec!" She shouted as she wrapped the towel around her, then left for her room. In the corner on a chair she had laid out an outfit last night, but looking at it now, she nearly felt nauseated by her own bad taste. Angrily she threw the clothes on the floor. When it came to dressing, she was a complete mess. Maybe she should even consider calling Sharpay, though they weren't exactly best friends.

Thirty minutes later, she was sitting on her bed with clothes lying all around her. And she had to leave for school very soon, a little too soon in fact.

"Damn it, I'm hopeless," she mumbled as she tossed one of her favourite shirts around the room. Just as she picked up a second one to throw the door was opened and her mother entered with an astonished expression.

"Which hurricane hit here?" she asked her daughter, who remained silent. Gabriella felt tears well up in her eyes, but she could not cry. Would not. Instead she found herself digging her fingers into the piece of clothing she was holding. Her mother smiled slightly at the sight of her daughter, then she walked over and sat down next to her.

"My guess; the hurricane's name is Troy," Gabriella looked deeply at her mother, fearing what she might see, but there was nothing but kindness and understanding in her mother's face. Mrs. Montez stroked her daughter's hair before she started to pick some of the clothes up.

"Have I ever told you the story of my best friend in high school?" Gabriella shook her head. She had heard bits and pieces of her mother's youth, but never any detailed stories.

"Well, her name was Shannon, she was a really beautiful girl. Tall, blonde and bigger boobs than most,"

"Mom!" Gabriella exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, but she had. Well, one day this really cute guy asked her out and she completely freaked out. She might have been pretty, but whenever a boy even paid the slightest attention to her, she freaked out. But with this guy it was different, because she really, really liked him. He had those really mysterious eyes, that you just want to know better. So she said yes. But when he came to her house to pick her up, she came down the stairs still wearing a bathrobe and no make-up what so ever. She just looked at him until he actually left. And he never talked to her again, just because she hadn't been able to find the proper outfit."

"You just made that up, didn't you?" Her mom nodded as she placed a big pile of clothes on the bed.

"Now get dressed, so you won't be late for school. We don't want you to end up like Shannon, showing up in nothing but a towel."

"A bathrobe, mom" Gabriella corrected her.

"Right, a bathrobe,"

* * *

The first few classes of the day seemed to pass by in a blur. In maths Gabriella even hesitated before answering, that far away had she been. When lunch hour came, she joined Taylor and they sat down at their usual table as of the last months. Before Gabriella had come to East High just after Christmas break, Taylor had been sitting with the geeks in the far corner of the cafeteria. And that's when Twinkle Towne happened. Every thing was turned upside down and suddenly people started talking to other people from other groups. Suddenly the chess club people dared talk to the skaters and some of the drama club gang talked to the geeks. But that story was soon an old tale that could be heard whispered in various corners of the school.

"You alright?" Gabriella nearly jumped out of her seat of surprise.

"Sure," she answered Taylor and smiled slightly.

"You just seem to be living in your own world today," Taylor pointed out wryly.

"Just nervous about rehearsals, that's all. Ms. Darbus expects us to know all our lines by now and I only know about half of them."

"The musical, of course." They both returned to their meal and continued eating for a few minutes until they were joined by the rest of the so called "new" gang. When Gabriella first spotted Troy heading towards their table, she was close to choke on the piece of chicken she was trying to swallow at the moment.

"Hey," he greeted her, but she just smiled back at him, not knowing what else to say. Usually she was a smart girl, very intelligent, with a wide selection of words, but whenever she was around Troy Bolton, all those words seemed to disappear.

When she first met Troy they had clicked, immediately. For the first time in her life she was actually able to talk openly to a _boy_ about primarily anything that crossed her mind. He had brought up a new side of her, a new Gabriella. And she really liked this Gabriella. She wasn't as a shy as the old one and she made new friends quicker than ever before. And suddenly she found herself as Mimi, one of the main characters in East High's Winter Musical.

She had been happy and self-confident at the time, but ever since winning the role, she felt it slip away along with her steady-going relationship with Troy Bolton. Not that it had ever turned into a real romantic relationship, though everybody else seemed to think so. After a week or so, it had become awkward to talk with him and now, three weeks later, they barely spoke to each other out of the classroom and the auditorium, when they were trying hard to please Ms. Darbus.

As the analytic girl she had always been, Gabriella was working hard trying to figure out what went wrong with their communicating skills. A great part of her feared that once the whole musical thing was over, they would stop talking all together. And that would be a loss, she was not sure she would be able to stand, for having Troy just as a friend had been an experience, that had awarded her more than she ever thought herself capable of achieving.

"Food's any good?" a voice asked. Gabriella lost her trail of thought and glanced up at one of Troy's friends Zeke, the baking expert.

"Could have been better, but it's edible, I guess," Taylor answered before Gabriella had a chance to open her mouth. Instead she sought Troy's eyes and caught them briefly. They were so blue, that she almost felt herself dive deep into his soul. She shivered. There was just something there, that she wanted to hold on to and never let go. They had to talk and the sooner the better.

"Mind if we join you, ladies?" Chad asked ironically, taking a seat next to Taylor, who was smiling sheepishly. Troy settled down next to Chad and immediately started rambling on about some basketball game that had been on TV the previous night. Looking up, she realized that even though he was talking to Chad, he kept shooting her glances. And then, just for a brief second, blue met brown and that's when she realized what was going on. Her stomach flipped and the realization hit her hard. She liked Troy, she really did. But that she knew. But she was gradually falling for him, really falling for him.

* * *

"And today we are going to go over the very last scene and then on Wednesday we will go through the entire play, so actors, my precious pieces of art, please know all your lines, songs and moves for then. It will be greatly appreciated." Ms. Darbus glanced around at her students.

"Mr. Bolton, Ms. Montez, since you have the parts of Arnold and Mimi I expect you to take to the stage, NOW!" For some reason Monday's rehearsal was always the worst. They had been rehearsing and rehearsing for almost a month now and the only scene they hadn't done anything about yet, was the final scene that included the song "Breaking Free." Gabriella felt her nervousness grow rapidly with each step she took towards the middle of the stage.

"And action!"

Suddenly Gabriella was gone and Mimi was standing there on the stage. She just stood there and stared out into the dark auditorium when she heard footsteps behind her. Turning around she spotted Arnold coming towards her with a determined look in his eyes.

"Arnold," she spoke in a voice just above a whisper. But he didn't say anything. He just walked up to her and looked her deeply in the eyes. There they stood for a brief moment, before she nearly panicked.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone," her voice was a little shaky at first, but she felt the power increase slowly. It was hard, but she stepped back and lowered her eyes. She could not let her feelings overwhelm her and control her.

"Mimi," Arnold said, reaching out for her. She stepped further back and shook her head. But he grasped her wrist and held on tight.

"Let go of me," she shouted at him, but he didn't even loosen his grip.

"Look at me," his voice was firm and demanding at the same time, so she could do nothing but abide. She met his gaze, while her entire body was shaking and she could feel the tears slowly falling from her eyes. While still holding her firmly his other hand caressed her skin and dried away the tears.

"Why can't you just leave me along?" she asked, nearly begging him.

"Because, Mimi, I'm falling for you, too." Her heart melted by his words, but she knew somewhere deep inside that it had to be an untrue dream.

"Arnold, don't you see it? It can never be us, you know that, don't you?" She smiled sweetly at him while fighting to hold back the tears.

"That's where you're wrong, Mimi. It can be the two of us," his tone was incredibly enthusiastic.

"No, Arnold, it can't. I'm just a bar singer and you…" she trailed off.

"are just a guy with incredibly and insanely rich parents," he finished for her. She laughed, merely for a second but it was there nonetheless. His grip on her wrist was now so loose, so she could easily have wrenched herself free. But she didn't do it. Instead she met his gaze again.

"What about Melanie?" She then asked, fearing the answer.

"Melanie, who?" he threw back at her. Then suddenly he started laughing slightly.

"Arnold, are you sure?"

"More than ever," his hand on her wrist let go and instead grasped her hand. They entwined their fingers.

"Then let's run away and get married," she blurted out and pulled him, but he didn't move an inch.

"No," he just murmured. Angst filled her and she let go of his hand.

"No?" her voice was shaky.

"No, we're not going to run away, Mimi. I don't want to keep things in the dark anymore." How he could be so calm, amazed her.

"Have you lost your mind? We couldn't possibly stay here." She started pacing back and forth, his eyes following her every move.

"Yes, we can. I want to show the world and all those drooling rich fools that when it comes to love your collection of shining items shouldn't matter at all." She stopped walking as he finished his small speech.

"Are you sure?" she asked again. But he didn't answer. Instead he slowly walked closer to her. She felt her breaths shorten, but she couldn't possibly have cared less. Arnold now stood in front of her. Slowly, but steadily, he let his hands run through her hair and down her back, while she just stood there nailed to the ground.

"Ever since I first heard you singing in that bar, I started falling in love with you, Mimi," he whispered as he leaned in and pressed his lips against her.

But it wasn't Mimi he was kissing any longer. Mimi vanished the second Arnold's lips crashed with hers and she was replaced with Gabriella Montez, the shy maths-girl from East High. But for just a moment she wasn't shy at all. Instead she responded with all force she had in her. His lips lingered on hers for a second longer than necessary, and then he pulled back. Gabriella stared at Troy, for Arnold seemed to have disappeared also. He blinked furiously as the piano hit the first chords of "Breaking Free". He looked at her dumbfounded and she stared back just as blank. Then he breathed in deeply and started singing. She followed him shortly.

* * *

"Bravo! Brava!" Ms. Darbus exclaimed when the song ended. Troy and Gabriella stood there, both trying to get rid of the odd sensation that was in the air. Their hands were still joined from singing the song, but none of them seemed to take notice.

"That's the true spirit of Arnold and Mimi, precisely what I imagined. Ms. Montez you finally brought forth the true Mimi, the girl hopelessly in love. And Mr. Bolton, I finally felt Arnold's passion for the bar singer. Well performed, magnificent, you can both take a break. Mr. and Ms. Evans, stage now!"

Gabriella was finally able to shake the feeling off her, as she left the stage, still holding Troy's hand. Her lips was still burning after the kiss, but she didn't mention it. Never in her life had she imagined her first kiss being like that. And especially not on a stage in a musical with a bunch of people watching, and yet she didn't even hesitate for a second. But it was with the guy she liked, the guy she was rapidly falling for. Unlike earlier in the process of putting together the Winter Musical, Gabriella finally understood her character. From now on, she was sure it would be heaps easier to be her.

They got backstage when Kelsi, the pianist, approached them, smiling broadly. She embraced them both at the both time with such strength, that Gabriella let go of Troy's hand.

"Oh my God, you guys were absolutely amazing. You really made me believe in that scene. And that kiss, wow! Imagine if it had been Ryan and Sharpay. That would have been way too weird, wouldn't it?" They both nodded in response while smiling. But neither dared look in the other's eyes.

Rehearsals ended around five that afternoon, and the two lead actors left the auditorium together, though they didn't speak together. Throughout the rest of the rehearsal they had gone through some of the choreography for a few of the songs and worked on some of the vocals.

"Practise makes perfect," Ms. Darbus had said before leaving them alone with the choreographer.

* * *

Now, walking there beside Troy, Gabriella once again found herself lost for words. Her lips were definitely still on fire, but she tried desperately to ignore it. It was nothing more than a part of a script, nothing more, she tried to assure herself, but a part of her felt like it was only some stupid lie.

"So, do you know _all _of your lines?" Troy asked nervously. She was relieved that he broke the silence firstly, even with a topic she would be able to talk about and a topic that didn't necessarily need any specifically hard and complicated words.

"No, not at all. I have no idea how I'm supposed to know them by Wednesday."

"Me either," he chuckled.

"Sometimes I really don't understand how actors and actresses do it as a living. I would suck!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know, one of the world's great mysteries." They both laughed as they opened the last door and left East High. Troy stopped only a few steps away from the school's entrance and started rubbing his neck.

"Uh, Gabriella?" He asked insecurely.

"Yes?"

"Do you think that … uh… Do you think that, maybe, maybe, we should rehearse some more. I mean, we have to know all the lines, you know." He breathed deeply after finishing.

"Sure," she replied and smiled encouragingly at him.

"Great. Do you have any plans today?"

"Actually I was supposed to go to Taylor's to study for our French test, but I can postpone it to tomorrow."

"Sounds great, then I'll call Chad and move practise for tomorrow also."

"You can't just cancel practise, can you? Won't your dad get mad?" She did not want to get in the black book of Coach Bolton, and she already had a pretty good feeling that she was almost there already.

"Oh, no, we were just going to do some two-on-two, nothing that involves the great Coach Bolton," Troy quickly assured her.

"Cool, so then, where should we do it. Rehearse, that is." She felt herself getting more and more nervous."

"Well, my parents are heading out for some function with my mother's colleagues," he shrugged and then added, "she's a lawyer. So I guess we could go to my place."

* * *

The Bolton's house seemed enormous compared to her mother's smaller town house. Troy led her up the driveway, where a rather expensive looking car was parked. He slid a key in the lock, opened the front door and held it open to her. Her mouth fell open when she saw the hallway. It was decorated with beautiful items here and there and a various selection of family photos were hanging nicely on the wall.

"Troy, is that you?" A woman, tall and slim, dressed in a perfectly fit beige coloured suit came out in the hallway. Troy stared at her with an annoyed look.

"Mom, I though you were at that dinner-thing."

"Your father is just a little delayed, we're heading out the second he arrives. But now Troy, who's your little lady friend here." Gabriella felt the woman's eyes rest on her.

"Mom, this is Gabriella Montez. Gabriella, this is my mother." Mrs. Bolton nodded knowingly.

"Gabriella, so nice to finally meet you," she smiled sweetly.

"You to, Mrs. Bolton," Gabriella said politely.

"Oh, please call me Irene. That whole Mrs.-thing always made me feel old."

"You are old, mom," Troy said jokingly.

"Troy!" Irene looked strictly at her son, who just looked back with a blank stare. Meanwhile they heard a car pull up.

"That will be your father, so I'm off. Now behave yourself, won't you?" She kissed her son on the forehead, grabbed a beautiful coat and left the house.

Gabriella just stood there and looked around, waiting for Troy to take the lead.

"Wanna see the house?" He asked after a moment of silence. She nodded and then followed him around the Bolton's residence. Each room was beautifully decorated with simple and yet refined furniture. They cruised the downstairs then went upstairs where they ended up in Troy's room; a very boyish room with lots of basketball posters and a few pictures of Troy himself both when he was younger and older.

"So this is where the famous Troy Bolton lives," Gabriella commented as she examined the pictures. And then suddenly she stopped. There, behind a large frame with a Troy dressed in the Wildcat's uniform, was a slightly smaller picture from the audition, their audition. She stopped dead for a moment, but after a while she realized that she wouldn't want to pass out from not breathing.

"Sorry about the mess," he excused himself. Not that she had seen many boy's rooms throughout her life, but from what she had seen in her cousins' rooms, this was really nothing.

"Oh, it's nothing compared to mine," she said lamely as she sat on a chair by his desk.

"It didn't exactly look messy when I saw it," Troy commented. The memory of him standing on her balcony made her stomach flip over once again.

"I had just moved in then, didn't have time to make it look messy," she joked while thinking of this morning. She wasn't exactly proud of that little stunt, but there was no need to tell him about that.

"So we should probably get to it," she suggested and he nodded in agreement.

"Better go downstairs, there's more room. I just need to find the music Kelsi recorded for us."

* * *

They went through every scene without any particular problems. Gabriella remembered almost every single line and they seemed to come to her so easy. Troy nearly didn't have any difficulties either, so all in all it was a pretty successful rehearsal until they came to the very last scene. Whereas she had found it easy to be Mimi during all the other scenes, that ability seemed to have left the building. Instead she stiffened up and mumbled and stuttered her way through the lines. The only comfort she found was Troy being just as horrible. If it kept going this way, there was no way Ms. Darbus was going to let them perform in 'Twinkle Towne'.

"Are you.. umh.. are you sure?" Gabriella mumbled while looking at her own feet. They were in the living room, both standing on the carpeted floor. Suddenly she realized how big her feet looked in those shoes, they had got to go. And then suddenly she noticed Troy's Van's right in front of her feet. His breaths were stiff, they tickled her neck. Now was probably the time to look up, but she felt incapable of controlling her own movements.

"Ever since I first heard you singing in that lodge.. um, bar, I started falling in love with you," Troy stuttered.

"Mimi," she suddenly said. The moment was gone.

"Mimi, what?" Troy asked.

"You were supposed to say _I started falling in love with you, Mimi. _Mimi!" She nearly yelled at him, while still staring at her feet.

Troy's fingers closed around her wrists and held her still. Then he cleared his throat.

"Ever since I first heard you singing in that _lodge_, I started falling in love with you, _Gabriella_." He merely whispered.

Her blood seemed to stop floating, it froze. That was so not the way that line was supposed to come out. That was not what the script said. He let go of her wrists and instead lifted her chin with two of his fingers. Blue met brown. Lips crashed with lips. But this time is was definitely not Arnold and Mimi that shared their first passionate kiss; it was Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez.

And then suddenly, as the kiss was about to become deeper, Gabriella pulled back and locked gazes with him.

"I can't do this, Troy," her voice was shaking. He gave a quizzical look.

"I've never… Oh, damn it!" Her frustration with herself grew steadily.

"What?" He just asked her calmly.

"I've never been with a boy, okay. Not just in the more intimate way, but in general. I've never kissed anyone, I've never dated anyone, I've never even liked a boy." She broke the eye contact and once again stared at her feet. "Until you," she then added in a whisper.

Who made the next move, she never really figured out, but before she knew their lips met again, this time less fierce and less forceful than their previous ones. But this one was far more meaningful and emotional. After a few moments she shyly parted her lips and invited him to deepen the kiss, which he did within seconds, but he didn't dare to push her too much. When the lack of oxygen occurred they unwillingly pulled apart, both smiling broadly.

"You're a fast learner, _Mimi,_" he said teasingly.

"It's Gabriella," she corrected him laughingly. This time she leaned in and pressed her lips to his briefly and softly.

"Well, as Ms. Darbus would say," he began.

"Practise makes perfect," they finished together and then started laughing.

* * *

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